Portfolio

Everywhere you look, new exchange-traded funds are popping up, and many people now think they're a must-have for a successful portfolio. But even though investors have poured more than $1 trillion into ETFs, the question remains: Do you really need them?

It's easy to understand the allure of brokerage credit cards. They're cash-back cards that route the the kickbacks into a brokerage account for capital appreciation. Free money creating more free money: What could possibly go wrong?

This week, holiday shoppers have turned into post-holiday exchangers. And while Main Street shops for sweaters in the right size, Wall Street has a few items to cross off of its "to do" list before New Year's Eve, too.

Good news: Retirees will get a 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2012 -- their first boost since 2009. Bad news: The average benefit is $1,229 a month, about the equivalent of working for minimum wage.

More workers now have access to professional retirement planning advice through their employers' 401(k) providers, but three-quarters of them aren't taking it. Here's a guide to making the best use of that free, unbiased advice and tips on what to ask the financial planners.

A tsunami of money -- $2 trillion within the next decade -- is flowing into target date funds, a type of retirement account that's supposed to make investing for our post-work years simple. But the way those funds are run isn't always in our best interest. Laura Rowley explains.

People nearing retirement now face a volatile stock market on the one hand and weak returns on their savings on the other. Fixed annuities offer a guaranteed stream of income, but there are downsides. Economist Brett Hammond of TIAA-CREF discusses how an annuity can fit into your portfolio, and some pitfalls to avoid.

Determining your risk tolerance before you invest is a lot like choosing a delivery plan for the birth of your child. When the contractions start, even the best-laid plans can go right out the window, because it's impossible to predict how you'll feel watching a chunk of your savings evaporate until it happens.

A new study concludes that investors tend to buy annuities at the wrong times. Here's why making decisions based on recent market events -- like last week's stock-market crash -- can take a big toll on your retirement wealth.

With all the ups and downs in the stock market in the last week, it's not surprising that some investors have panicked. But we've also found examples of investors who have kept calm. Here are some of their secrets.